This invention relates to a shopping cart attachment and is more particularly concerned with an attachment for use on a shopping cart which will provide a substantially flat and stable writing surface for the shopper and provide means for advertising and identifying the location of items included in the shopping area.
Most modern supermarkets include shopping carts which the shopper can obtain and maneuver over the shopping area for carrying goods to be purchased. One of the problems in utilizing a shopping cart is that the shopper may have a list of items to be purchased and it is often desirable to mark these items off as they are located. Without the aid of an attachment to the cart providing a substantially flat and stable writing surface, it is difficult to mark these items off the list. Further, in using a shopping list and shopping cart, it is usually cumbersome for the shopper to hold a list and a writing instrument while the shopper retrieves and places the items to be purchased in the cart.
Another problem with using a shopping cart and attempting to locate items in the shopping area, is finding the items desired for purchase. Many of the supermarkets include signs located above particular shopping aisles which identify a few of the items located in that particular aisle. However, these shopper guides do not include many of the items located in the shopping area and the signs are difficult to read by a near-sighted shopper. Further, it is difficult to see all of the signs from any particular point in the store and it is sometimes necessary to traverse a number of aisles to read all the signs before locating the item desired.
The prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,888,761, 3,251,543, and 3,539,204, which show various attachments for shopping carts that provide a writing platform. Some of these attachments also provide areas for advertisements of products in the store or a directory to indicate where the products can be found in the store. One type of attachment disclosed in the prior art is an attachment only attached to the transverse handle of the cart. As such, those attachments appear to be merely clamped to the handle and therefore may have had a tendency to be unstable.
The prior art also discloses supporting the attachment by legs at the four corners of the attachment or supporting the platform beneath both the top and bottom edges of the platform. While these attachments appear to be more stable, it also appears that they may have hindered the nesting of the carts. Additionally, they do not appear to be useful on carts having collapsible infant seats.